Emergency vehicle shelter

ABSTRACT

An emergency vehicle shelter including an inflatable bladder configured for nested engagement with a vehicle for covering exterior surfaces thereof (excepting the underside) . Interior of the bladder is a compressed gas supply with valve means for rapid inflation of the bladder upon actuation of exteriorly accessible actuation lanyard or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of The Invention

The present invention relates to vehicle covers.

2. Background Information and Summary of the Invention

A variety of vehicle covers are available for protecting vehicles from,among other things, hail. There are, of course, the conventional, singleply covers which merely protect a vehicle's paint from acid rain, birddroppings, etc.

Examples of a variety of car covers can be found by reference to U.S.Pat. Nos. 4,699,192; 4,294,483; 4,807,922; 5,050,925, and 5,242,206.

A hail shield described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,074 to Timerman, includesseveral strips of thick foam rubber spaced apart on a cloth cover. Thethick foam strips keep the cloth cover spaced from the surface of thecar provide a buffer space to absorb the energy of the fallinghailstones. This design also may provide reasonable protection, but isnot easily collapsed for storage due to the thickness of the foamstrips.

Most car cover either are designed to protect only a portion of thevehicle and/or do not lend themselves to quick deployment as is so oftennecessary if a vehicle is to be protected against a rapidly developing,hail-producing weather situation.

In addition, presently available vehicle covers rely on heavy materialto resist damage or on a thick material to resist impact to the carbody. The use of heavy materials in constructing a vehicle cover resultsin a vehicle cover which provides protection, but which is bulky anddifficult to install on a vehicle. Therefore, this type of vehicle coveris not suitable for providing the emergency covering of the vehiclebody, especially if the vehicle operator is not exceptionally strong.The other alternative, then, is to provide a vehicle cover which hassufficient thickness to withstand the force of impacting foreignobjects. This may be accomplished by inserting padding between the outerand inner surfaces of the vehicle cover, or by providing a system of airbladders which, when inflated, will provide sufficient thickness toprotect against damage. An example of an inflatable vehicle cover isfound in Farris, U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,483. However, Farris is notdesigned for use in an emergency situation as it is inflatable onlythrough use of an air compressor, which is not commonly found in avehicle. Another example—Heck's U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,206—seeks to addressthe deployment problem through the nearly equally inadequate solution ofrelying air in tires to inflate the cover.

At present, there remains the necessity for an inflatable vehicle coverwhich may be used in emergency situations, and which is light, fullycovering of the vehicle, and fully effective.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention is toprovide an improved inflatable vehicle cover.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an inflatablevehicle cover which may provide protection from the force of impactingforeign objects, such as hail stones.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide aninflatable vehicle cover which may be quickly and easily installed on avehicle for use in emergency situations.

The present invention provides an inflatable vehicle cover forprotecting the body of a vehicle from damage from the force of impactingforeign objects, such as hail. The cover is configured as an inflatablebladder which, when inflated, substantially defines a negativeimpression (on one side) of the vehicle to be protected. The cover isideally constructed of polyester, propylene, acrylics, nylon, or suchother light weight material as will render the cover an easilymanageable size and weight.

Integrated within the cover of the present invention is a gascylinder-based inflation system which, upon actuation, rapidly inflatesthe cover, thereby providing nearly immediate protection and obviatingthe need for air compressors, or even resort to deflating one's tires,as in the Heck invention.

A system of elastic straps or the like may be used to secure the vehiclecover to the body of the vehicle.

The inflatable vehicle cover of the present invention thus may be usedin a variety of emergency situations where immediate protection of thevehicle is required, such as in a severe thunderstorm or hail storm. Thepresent invention thus provides a solution to a long-unsolved problem,that of providing emergency protection for the body of a vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the vehicle cover of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the inflation unit of the presentinvention, which is incorporated within the cover thereof, and of whichonly the actuation lanyard is visible from the exterior of the cover inthe preferred embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The inflatable vehicle cover 10 is shown in its preferred embodiment inFIG. 1. Cover 10 is constructed as an inflatable bladder which, wheninflated, substantially conforms to the outer shape of all but theunderside of a to-be-protected vehicle. Alternative embodiments includeeither somewhat generic versions, such as for use with “compact”,“mid-size”, or “large” cars (or trucks), or may be more specificallytailored for individual car models, in which later case the fit will bemore precise.

The construction of inflatable items which, by way of appropriate panelshapes and appropriate stitching, achieve a desired three dimensionalshape upon inflation, is well known and need not here be explained indetail for an enabling disclosure.

An object of the invention is to provide a most user-friendly product,and as such it is preferred that cover 10 be constructed of polyester,propylene, acrylics, nylon, or such other light weight material as willrender the cover an easily manageable size and weight. thus yielding alight weight and pliable article for ease of handling. Even if thematerial chosen is not literally “air-tight” (although such would bepreferable for extended use), the short-term, emergency nature of theuses intended for the present invention would still be met, so long ascover 10 would remain adequately inflated for a period of an hour, orso.

Attached to the perimeter of the cover 10 are a plurality of elasticizedstraps 30 for securing cover 10 to a to-be-protected vehicle. Straps 30are preferably attached along each side of the cover 10 and are designedto engage the underside of the vehicle, to be secured in place by a hookor other fastening means.

Referring to FIG. 2, a gas cannister 110 together with its inflationvalve 112 is incorporated into cover 10 and provides the preferred meansfor inflating cover 10. This is a system which, in other contexts, isused to inflate emergency flotation devices, such as life rafts and thelike.

The inflation valve features a lanyard pull 114 which activates thevalve so that gas is released to the interior of Cover 10. The gascannister is sized to provide capacity to fill cover 10. The cannisterdesign also is appropriate for the gas to be used, usually carbondioxide, a combination of CO₂ and nitrogen, or air. A sufficientquantity of CO₂ normally requires only about half the volume as for air.When CO₂ is used, some nitrogen can be added to extend the temperaturerange over which the gas will be of sufficient volume. Also, nitrogen isintroduced at higher pressures which allows filling the inflatables morerapidly.

Inflation valves are normally fitted with a safety pin used to preventinadvertent release with the safety pin removed before deployment. Inthe present invention, such a safety pin may be attached to thedeployment lanyard pull 114 to release the contents of cannister 110.

In use, a quick pull on lanyard pull 114 will release gas to inflatecover 10 in less than a minute when CO₂ is used, and a fraction of aminute where high pressure air is used. If manual or electric air pumpsare used inflation time will be substantially increased—to severalminutes.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specificembodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limitedsense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well asalternative embodiments of the inventions will become apparent topersons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of theinvention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims willcover such modifications that fall within the scope of the invention.

1. An emergency vehicle shelter for protecting a vehicle against impactdamage from hail comprising: an inflatable bladder member configuredfor, upon inflation with gas, assuming a configuration for substantialnested engagement with upper and outer surfaces of a vehicle; acompressed gas supply containing a measure of compressed gas in aninterior void thereof, said measure of compressed gas being sufficient,upon release from said compressed gas supply, to substantially, fullyinflate said inflatable bladder member; a valve member attached to saidcompressed gas supply and in communication with the interior of saidcompressed gas supply and with the interior of said inflatable bladdermember, said valve member having actuation means for, only uponactuation thereof, releasing said compressed gas into the interior ofsaid inflatable bladder member to inflate same, at least a portion ofsaid actuation means extending exterior of said inflatable bladdermember.